http://www.cricinfo....ory/464257.html----Miandad and Latif accussed PCB of ignoring some good players and being biased...possible.They gave four names, Younis,Sami,Khurram Manzoor, and Faisal Iqbal.IMO, Faisal iqbal is the shittiest of them all, and what really bother javed miandad is the snub he got.Faisal Iqbal reminds me somewhat of Imran Farhat, both players lack class, lack technique and even after so many chances,their averages are pretty pathetic, Farhat avg. being slightly better than FI.So of al those players, F.I. is the only one hurt:S....rubbish.

I think SAMI geniunely deserves a chance...he bowled his heart out in that Australian tour, a fiery spell which matched his best.I think the issue here could be that with Umar Gul,Moh.Aamer and shaoib in the squat, and asif as the medium fast, it leaves little room.Although whether wahab riaz is better than sami is a separate issue, riaz has age on his side.Khurram Manzoor deserves a chance purely bcoz of his age and experience...he simply hasnt been given enough chances and from what i saw, he plays much better than F.I.Younis khan is the biggest mystery to me and there is only ONE explanation why Afridi didnt push for him.He is a new captain, and wants to foster trust in this unit, and trust in his leadership.YH isnt liked by most of the squad it seems, which is very disheartening since he is a nice person and a great player.But i think afridi's logic might have been to sacrific one good player for team unity.Its not the ideal way to go though, hyou dont give into indiscipline and badmashi!I wonder why both miandad and latif didnt name fawad alam in that list of victims...maybe bcoz he is the most geniune threat to FI's place?he hasnt been given chances, or just came in too late in the line up, mostly in shitty situations to prove himself, not fair at all. There are also many other players which were ignored for no reason, moh. Irfan the giant should have been included, imran farhat shudnt be there, yasir hameed im not sure, we will have to see how he bats to comment but hes pretty old if i remember, probably 30 or 31.

This is really interesting. This guy was born in Pakistan and migrated to Australia at the age of 3 with his family and then raised and educated there as an australian. He'll be the first cricketer of Pakistani origin to play for Australia if he gets selected for tests and one dayers and he's only 23

Pakistan's players may wonder about the one that got away when they peer into the Australian dressing room during the series in England next month. Sitting there will be Usman Khawaja, a 23-year-old batsman, who was born in Islamabad.

Since Khawaja's family moved to Sydney when he was three, he has developed into one of the most impressive young batsmen in the country, sworn his allegiance to the quest for a baggy green, and become a qualified pilot. If he plays at Lord's or Leeds in July he will become Australia's first Muslim Test cricketer by appearing against his country of birth.

"When I first got told that I was going over to England that didn't even cross my mind," he said in Brisbane. "It [being a Muslim] doesn't cross my mind until someone brings it up. I am around the boys all the time and I never once feel like I am different."

Khawaja is currently on tour in Queensland with Australia A and he tried to remain cool when told of his selection in the 14-man squad. "I was a bit shocked, I had a feeling I was close," he said. Khawaja quickly told his excited father Tariq, who has increased his love of the Australian team as his boy became more accomplished.

Usman last visited Pakistan four years ago and is unsure where the loyalties of his extended family, including his maternal grandmother, will lie. He hopes they will cheer for him if he gets a game.

"I haven't thought about it like that," he said. "I am just very happy being in the squad." In England he will be on standby for the top four batsmen, but will mostly be there to gain experience for what could be a barrier-breaking career.

One of those left-handers who seem to see the ball in slow motion, Khawaja is rarely rushed at the crease and is treasured for his composed performances in the four-day format. (He has played only four domestic one-day games.) There has been a feeling around the state scene for the past two years that Khawaja's rise to Australian colours was inevitable and the elevation has arrived despite him not completing a full Sheffield Shield campaign.

New South Wales' strong line-up of internationals has contributed to him appearing in only 18 first-class fixtures for his state but, despite a mid-season broken thumb, he still managed three centuries and 698 runs at 63.45 in seven games last summer. Two of the hundreds came in back-to-back matches, with 132 against Queensland on a testing pitch at the Gabba and 107 in more comfortable conditions in Newcastle.

Like Michael Clarke, Khawaja went to Westfields Sport High School in Sydney and he has a similar build to Australia's Test vice-captain, weighing in at around 77kg and standing 1.77m tall. He plays for Randwick Petersham, the club Nathan Hauritz captains and Simon Katich turns out for when time allows, and has been in the same state sides as Brad Haddin and Clarke a couple of times.

He is as fresh as his young New South Wales team-mates Phillip Hughes and Steven Smith were on their first senior trips. "When I was a kid I dreamed of going on tour but I am not looking too far ahead," he said. "If I just carry the drinks the whole time, it doesn't really bother me. It's just exciting to be around Punter [Ricky Ponting] - I have never met him."

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has hailed the selection of Islamabad-born batsman Usman Khawaja to the Australian Test squad, calling him a role model for immigrants. Khawaja could make his debut against the country of his birth when Australia play Pakistan in a two-Test series in England in July.

"Now Khawaja has broken into the Australian team, I am sure if he performs well it will encourage other Pakistanis living and playing in Australia, because the system there is good for players," Waqar told AFP from Colombo.

Waqar, who lives in Sydney, said he had watched Khawaja play and was impressed with his talent. "He plays like the Australians do and it is great to see someone from Pakistan breaking into world's best team," he said. "He is an impressive talent and is in the Australian squad only because he has done well at the domestic level." Khawaja, who plays for New South Wales, scored three centuries and 698 runs at 63.45 in seven games last summer.

Waqar, however, warned Khawaja not to expect any preferential treatment from the Pakistan squad should he be in the XI in the two-Test series. "I hope he doesn't score much against us and my bowlers come hard at him."

Pakistan last played Australia in Australia in 2009 and lost all three Tests, five one-day games and a Twenty20 match. Waqar, who took over as coach after that disastrous tour, said facing Australia again would not be easy. "This is not going to be an easy series. As long as we remain positive, play to our potential and show mental strength we can surprise Australia. If at the back of your mind, you think you are playing Australia, which is a great side, you must also have a belief that you can play well and show mental strength. This is an area we are working on."

The first Test starts at Lord's on July 13 and the second at Leeds on July 21. Pakistan also play four Tests, two Twenty20s and five one-day matches against England on the tour which ends on September 22.

http://www.cricinfo....ory/464257.html----Miandad and Latif accussed PCB of ignoring some good players and being biased...possible.They gave four names, Younis,Sami,Khurram Manzoor, and Faisal Iqbal.IMO, Faisal iqbal is the shittiest of them all, and what really bother javed miandad is the snub he got.Faisal Iqbal reminds me somewhat of Imran Farhat, both players lack class, lack technique and even after so many chances,their averages are pretty pathetic, Farhat avg. being slightly better than FI.So of al those players, F.I. is the only one hurt:S....rubbish.

I think SAMI geniunely deserves a chance...he bowled his heart out in that Australian tour, a fiery spell which matched his best.I think the issue here could be that with Umar Gul,Moh.Aamer and shaoib in the squat, and asif as the medium fast, it leaves little room.Although whether wahab riaz is better than sami is a separate issue, riaz has age on his side.Khurram Manzoor deserves a chance purely bcoz of his age and experience...he simply hasnt been given enough chances and from what i saw, he plays much better than F.I.Younis khan is the biggest mystery to me and there is only ONE explanation why Afridi didnt push for him.He is a new captain, and wants to foster trust in this unit, and trust in his leadership.YH isnt liked by most of the squad it seems, which is very disheartening since he is a nice person and a great player.But i think afridi's logic might have been to sacrific one good player for team unity.Its not the ideal way to go though, hyou dont give into indiscipline and badmashi!I wonder why both miandad and latif didnt name fawad alam in that list of victims...maybe bcoz he is the most geniune threat to FI's place?he hasnt been given chances, or just came in too late in the line up, mostly in shitty situations to prove himself, not fair at all. There are also many other players which were ignored for no reason, moh. Irfan the giant should have been included, imran farhat shudnt be there, yasir hameed im not sure, we will have to see how he bats to comment but hes pretty old if i remember, probably 30 or 31.

Anywayz, we can discuss all cricket here...

hahaha Faisal Iqbal = Nephew of Javid Miandad....

If i was in Pakistan team of tour of Aus, I would have batted better than this moron.... lets have look at his record to see how badly has he been treated.

also Fawad Alam on tour of Sri Lanka in mid 2009 scored 216 runs at an average of 54 highest in Pakistani team....

Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. As the Creator willed it, the date corresponded with the empowering night of Ramadan 27 of the year 1366 after the Prophet’s Hijra. Its great destiny was thus set from the start

If we take our inspiration and guidance from the Holy Qur’an, the final victory, I once again say, will be ours… Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task… You only have to develop the spirit of the Mujahids. You are a nation whose history is replete with people of wonderful character and heroism. Live up to your traditions and add to another chapter of glory. All I require of you now is that everyone… must vow to himself and be prepared to sacrifice his all… in building up Pakistan as a bulwark of Islam and as one of the greatest nations whose ideal is peace within and peace without… Islam enjoins on every Mussulman to give protection to his neighbors and to minorities regardless of caste and creed. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Im sorry, the only thing he ever did was 2007 t20 and a few innings here and there that same yr, but he did NOTHING last 2 yrs...domestic performance means nothing if you cant back it up at the highest levels..he shud call it quits instead of crying like a little #####.

and he scored a total of 20 or so runs in the entire 2020 world cup this yr (in fact he didn't do squat in last yr's world cup). And then he has the nerve to talk about averages.

Look at Australia's Michael Bevan, HE HAD THE HIGHEST ODI BATTING AVERAGE IN THE WORLD at 54.00, but Australia didn't hesitate to drop him. Why? Cause he didn't do squat for 10-15 straight games. Hell if you want to just talk about averages why not bring back Inzamam and Javed Miandad into the current team. Idiot

and Faisal Iqbal? DONT GET ME STARTED on that USELESS player. The only reason he made it into the national team was becaue of his relation to his uncle. He is the only test batsman in the world who's played more than 20 tests and averages nowhere near to 30 runs a game.

PCB is a very crappy organization, but I think excluding these useless players is the first right thing they've done in ages. But seriously I think their selection committee is still run by a bunch of monkeys. I totally agree Fawad Alam is probably one of the BEST batsmen we have in the country and we still dont give him a proper chance. God I wish he would get atleast half a chance as was given to these lulloos mentioned above

Is Fawad Alam in the team? He has been the victimized player of the decade for me.

Nahi yaaaar that's what the issue is about. They got rid of the useless players thank God, but are still not giving chances to promising youngsters like Fawad alam and instead giving it to ppl like Umar Amin with ordinary averages

well yasir hameed is back. lets hope they do not screw him again. like giving one match and then kicking him out for two matches and then bring him for one more. Better average than shoaib malik too and we all know that he can bat well.

Anyways lets hope team do better on this one. Just a question: why saqlain mushtaq is never brought back. did we just suddenly decided that he is not worth anything?

well yasir hameed is back. lets hope they do not screw him again. like giving one match and then kicking him out for two matches and then bring him for one more. Better average than shoaib malik too and we all know that he can bat well.

Anyways lets hope team do better on this one. Just a question: why saqlain mushtaq is never brought back. did we just suddenly decided that he is not worth anything

Yasir Hameed was one of our best batsmen at the time. And for some RETARDED reason we dropped him because of 2 or 3 bad performances and unfortunatley destroyed his technique as a result. They brought him back in 2007 and sadly he wasn't in the same form again (who could blame him, he hadn't played international cricket for 3 yrs). I think he is done for, but I sincerely hope I am wrong.

And as for Saqlain, to put it simply, yes we just decided out of the blue. He was the fastest bowler to take 100, 200, and 300 wickets in test and ODI's, and probably would have had more wickets than Murali rite now. Unfortunatley due to a knee injury, then politics, and then stupid selection decisions Saqlain just disappeared into the sea

well yasir hameed is back. lets hope they do not screw him again. like giving one match and then kicking him out for two matches and then bring him for one more. Better average than shoaib malik too and we all know that he can bat well.

Anyways lets hope team do better on this one. Just a question: why saqlain mushtaq is never brought back. did we just suddenly decided that he is not worth anything?

I was fan of Yasir Hameed back in the days and he actually brought some stability to Pakistani top order.

Than it was the series against Indian after which he was given the boot. Though he did develop a batting flaw but rather than fixing it the decided to kick him out...

BTW Yasir Hameed was the player to score 100 in both innings of his first match.

He scored 170 in the first inning and 108 in the second.

As for Saqlain

He had bad series against Indian in 2004 (the famous series where Indian visited Pakistan) he had pretty bad match given away 204 for only 1 wicket.

So the morons decided that karneria and Malik should be put ahead of him and since than they never gave him a chance.

also he actually developed knee injury and it took time to recover. Than he joined County and there was talk of him playing for England.

OVER THE LAST DECADE PCB HAS SCREWED Pakistani CRICKET UP SIDEWAYS.

Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. As the Creator willed it, the date corresponded with the empowering night of Ramadan 27 of the year 1366 after the Prophet’s Hijra. Its great destiny was thus set from the start

If we take our inspiration and guidance from the Holy Qur’an, the final victory, I once again say, will be ours… Do not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task… You only have to develop the spirit of the Mujahids. You are a nation whose history is replete with people of wonderful character and heroism. Live up to your traditions and add to another chapter of glory. All I require of you now is that everyone… must vow to himself and be prepared to sacrifice his all… in building up Pakistan as a bulwark of Islam and as one of the greatest nations whose ideal is peace within and peace without… Islam enjoins on every Mussulman to give protection to his neighbors and to minorities regardless of caste and creed. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Yasir hameed definatley has potential, he had a technical flaw but still has geniune talent...kinda like fawad alam...Fawad shuffles a bit and has a gap when he drives BUT these are problems that can be fixed because: both of them have the temprament to play at the highest level, timing, good eye and are hardworking..both of them dont complain much either.

SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ is probably the biggest victim of politics and shitty governance in PCB in its history...he was an exceptional talent, would have gone down in the history books with the likes of murali...infact ppl would have put him ahead bcoz he was the one who developed the dusra, which realy made murali deadly...and lets just say hes the most achieved offspinner, with a more CONVENTIONAL bowling action...regarldess of his deformity, that action gives him enormous amount of spin that no off break bowler can get with the conventional style...still saqlain ruled the world of spin for a good 5-6 yrs!and his strike rate matched that of waqar and shoaib.

That 2004 seires, he was making a comeback after the turmoil that we had when wasim akram left.he was wasims main man.so on the comeback, they played him at one of the driest, flattest pitches, and it was either the same match or the same series when sehwag made his 309...6 dropped catches was it?one off saqlain?needless to say you put a spinner making a comeback on a flat pitch against a good batting attack and dispose off him on that one performance his case is worst then but similar to aqib javed, and younis khan...and the guy didnt even have any attitude or politics problems

Ugh!..the game against Kent today..i hope it isnt the beginning of a longgg english summer!that dumbass Ijaz Butt,this is when we will miss the likes of yyounis and yusuf.Nice to see Fawad Alam is there.

But the only heartening thing was Umar Akmals knock, so different from all the other shitty players we have.This guy is just 20,already has an avg. of 51 from 36 matches, and plays well in all the three formats of the game,esp. tests, which is amazing considering he is an attacking free flowing batsmen. Not to jinx him or anything, but i think he might be on his way to become one of the greats in Cricket and dare i say, he looks a shade better than all the greats we have seen so far from Pk!!Unlike many other big south asian names,hes been successful all over the world, in Australia, south asia and now looks like he can handle the seaming English pitches.He must be feeling lonely in our inept middle order though, hope we discover some good bastmen soon, or some ppl get back in form!

Naah man. let him play on different pitches as much as possible. let him get the feel of everything. you have to admit that he is still lot young. let him get experience against others.

Its insane to think that Akmal is 20 and Aamer is till 18!!!Aamer had been a little out of touch lately so nice to see he is back in the groove, we would need the best out of our bowlers..and Umar amin and fawad alam got a good knock in today!

Seacad, yaar akmal is still young and a batsmen of his talents will probably benefit from learning new things every day!once he hits late 20s we can start thinking abt resting him.Im very excited abt his performance, i have a feeling hes going to go on to break records, only one who can threaten the records set by tendulakar:)...if he can adapt, stay fit and stay out of politics, there is no reason why he cant get there in 12-15 yrs!

btw,i think afridi should let M Aamer bowl out his 4 overs right at the start, hes a swing bowler and it seems he doesnt do as good at the end when the ball is older....He should finish off with gul and akhtar/razzaq.

Can't believe how bad shoaib was. He could hardly run. Maybe his new hair piece was weighing him down but seriously 34 runs in two overs!! Aamer's almost have his age and showed him how it's done.

I think shoaib wasnt in rythm and the onslaught he faced just made it worse...i think he'll bounce back, he has to lose some weight in the next month or so:).

I still think Aamer is new ball bowler, and afridi should give him 3 overs at the start atleast.Gul is finally back in t20 form, where he is devastating.start with Aamer and then finish off with Gul and Shoaib.I have a feeling we will miss younis and esp. yousuf in the tests....they wouldd have made alot of difference..not still convinced that malik and afridi can be the middle order, the only reassuring thing there is Akmal but how long will that work.Facing Nanes,tair and johnson in tandem for overs and overs together with Watsons 140ks as a back up is no joke and its not t20!

ok. shoaib bold one bad over. considering its 2020, it can happen to anyone.

secondly, the second over was going pretty good until razzaq let it go

One thing I feel about akhtar though: I think he needs 4 over run in straight. These two over spell are going to screw his back. get his three overs done as soon as possible. Oh and have you guys noticed that in second over he was kind of limping....

ok. shoaib bold one bad over. considering its 2020, it can happen to anyone.

secondly, the second over was going pretty good until razzaq let it go

One thing I feel about akhtar though: I think he needs 4 over run in straight. These two over spell are going to screw his back. get his three overs done as soon as possible. Oh and have you guys noticed that in second over he was kind of limping....

If yasir hameed earned his bread, then we wont be needing younis.

Sobank yaar, Shoaib is way past his best (not that we saw much of it anyway). He's 35 now and really how can you continue to ball at express pace at this age. The body slows down plus all the years of injury and the wear and tear take thier toll as well. He's put on wieght as well. Brett Lee is in a similar situation. Look at how he struggled in this year's IPL.

I've been playing league cricket in yorkshire for nearly 18 years now as an opening bowler. Started when I was 16. Ok I'm no pro but I know I'm not bowling as quick as I used to be in my mid to late twenties. We played a pretty decent standard (almost semi pro with some overseas pros in our team as well). It also took me longer to recover, nearly a full day after we play a 45over/side game. I've moved to London now so don't play anymore but I was encouraging the youngsters to come through. I think Shoaib should step aside and take on some kind of bowling coaching role and help bring the youngsters through. I really think his playing days are surely coming to an end. No doubt he could have been really great but too controversial and that was his down fall.

Sobank yaar, Shoaib is way past his best (not that we saw much of it anyway). He's 35 now and really how can you continue to ball at express pace at this age. The body slows down plus all the years of injury and the wear and tear take thier toll as well. He's put on wieght as well. Brett Lee is in a similar situation. Look at how he struggled in this year's IPL.

I've been playing league cricket in yorkshire for nearly 18 years now as an opening bowler. Started when I was 16. Ok I'm no pro but I know I'm not bowling as quick as I used to be in my mid to late twenties. We played a pretty decent standard (almost semi pro with some overseas pros in our team as well). It also took me longer to recover, nearly a full day after we play a 45over/side game. I've moved to London now so don't play anymore but I was encouraging the youngsters to come through. I think Shoaib should step aside and take on some kind of bowling coaching role and help bring the youngsters through. I really think his playing days are surely coming to an end. No doubt he could have been really great but too controversial and that was his down fall.

Shazman bro... the first game was his comeback.. give him a slack...sure hes old.. atleast older than what he was...but he was still pushing it to 95mph... consistently

its a growing trend in the cricket world these days..bring in the fast guns...aussies.. got tait and nannes.. johnson can do gud aswell..

id... say play shoaib... and in the meanwhile.. find a new speedster...if i remember correctly.. under 19.. team has a few...

Sobank yaar, Shoaib is way past his best (not that we saw much of it anyway). He's 35 now and really how can you continue to ball at express pace at this age. The body slows down plus all the years of injury and the wear and tear take thier toll as well. He's put on wieght as well. Brett Lee is in a similar situation. Look at how he struggled in this year's IPL.

I've been playing league cricket in yorkshire for nearly 18 years now as an opening bowler. Started when I was 16. Ok I'm no pro but I know I'm not bowling as quick as I used to be in my mid to late twenties. We played a pretty decent standard (almost semi pro with some overseas pros in our team as well). It also took me longer to recover, nearly a full day after we play a 45over/side game. I've moved to London now so don't play anymore but I was encouraging the youngsters to come through. I think Shoaib should step aside and take on some kind of bowling coaching role and help bring the youngsters through. I really think his playing days are surely coming to an end. No doubt he could have been really great but too controversial and that was his down fall.

It was his Attitude more than anything else that led to his downfall.I was kinda irritated today to read that he was back to his old LOGN run up...why is he such an idiot.He bowled just as fast and probably more accurate with his shorter,jog of a run up in Asia cup and him losing his line a few times this series probably has to do with his brisk run up which his massive body cannot tolerate and affects his accuracy.Khair, if he drops that weight, maybe 10-15 lbs by the next world cup and can stay up in the 90mph zone,theres no reason to just dump him.A new bowler would take time to settle and experience is on shoaibs side.Its not a done deal but if he can stay fit, lose weight and get some more practized, he should ATLEAST be in the squad for the 2011 cup, and then he should just honorably retire.He is one of those cases of ,WHAT IF, he cud have been great but yet chose to be a disappointment.Playing for Pakistan and redeeming himself would be a nice close on his chapter.Lets hope he sees it that way.

we won another and shoaib looked better. The score card says it all. Old or not....... if he can through the ball at 90, he is in. and I believe that accuracy has not been one of shoaib problem for very very very long time. So i dont know exactly why we questioning the accuracy.

Though I have to say that making him play test will be zulam. We all hate his personal actions but you like him or not, this guy, when on the field, puts every thing in his game. I remember this one match with india. The dude literally killed himself on dead wicket.

what irritates me that some ppl try to give it a REGIONAL color!!!....Asim kamal was wasted, but so were many other players...including Yasir hameed.Yasir hameed actually was one of the better players and he had a couple of technical faults the bowlers eventually worked out. to be honest,hameed with Butt can bea good opening for us. Yasir used to open if i am not mistake....

The biggest waste IMO was Saqlain mushtaq!I wud have said Mohd. wasim, but i heard there was a sex scandal...oddly enough some other players including afridi were partially involved in the same scandal, but wasim sahab made the mistake of taking the girl to a motel as well...

Not sure why they wud take a wicketkeeper,considering Kamran akmals place has never been this assured in his whole career...

Asif not doing so hot in his return to the Pakistani side against a second string county side.

Yep, thats a very worrying sign for me.Asif kinda lost his touch after he came back from the ban,never really regained his rythm and then he got himself tangled up in a domesticate feud with a lollywood actress...this guy is such an idiot! I really hope he finds his form, and quickly!Also, u think he has lost some of the drive?The actress accussed him of being involved in match fixing btw~!!

btw,one of the new players being sent for the test squad is 32 yrs old:S:S:...and a fast bowler !!Ok fine, hes a baluchi and maybe we are trying to send a political msg but if not, then that selection sucks...i wud have preferred Sami instead!